The question I have always asked my family when they are tasting a new recipe ;)

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Matcha Financiers

This recipe is a perfect example of why I have loved my last four years participating in this TWD group. If I had been flipping through a cookbook on my own, I would have never made this particular recipe. I didn’t know what matcha was, or a financier for that matter and the picture of a green mini muffin would not have been enough to arouse my curiosity….BUT…now in this baking group, this is exactly the type of recipe that gives me, and my tasters an adventure.

Because of this recipe I now know what matcha is, I have been to Teavana, experienced the kindness of genuinely nice worker, and can now say I have tasted matcha!

So what is matcha?…a Japanese powdered green tea; one that we are told is bold, expensive, and not readily available. I looked at my local stores and didn’t have any luck. I was asking around and a friend of mine suggested going to Teavana in the mall. Not being a tea drinker, I had never heard of this place. I headed over and right away found the matcha, but only in a $25 canister (which probably held a cup) and then a box of 10 individual packets sold for $19. So, neither were a good choice as we only needed a tsp. I chatted with an employee asking if I could buy just a teaspoon worth of the matcha. She told me they didn’t sell that one in bulk. Such a bummer I told her, as I am in this baking and blogging group and only needed the amount that would be in one of the individual packets sold in boxes of 10. She looked at the display, which had a box open showing the packets and said here, take a few. I was so happy and asked what I should pay her for them and she replied, nothing…since it is a display, we will have to throw them out anyway. I am glad to be able to help with the baking. HOW COOL IS THAT?? to come across someone so genuinely kind that they just make your day!! It seriously did make my day. I love when you come across people who are just kind!!

I was more energized to get to the baking after scoring the matcha…baked them on St. Patrick’s Day quite by accident but that was totally appropriate and I think people were more willing to try something green that day. 🙂

The actual recipe was super easy. You mix up the ingredients until you have a “pea green batter with a sheen to it”

The batter now needs to chill for a minimum of an hour. Then onto the baking. I opted to add the chocolate. I figured chocolate makes anything taste better so since I was a little concerned with everyone liking this one, I went for the surprise inside.

They baked right up and off they went to my tasters. No one had tasted matcha before, so everyone was interested in seeing what it was like.

My tasters loved these, although they all said they didn’t think they could really taste the matcha!!?? What?? So interesting right. The girl at Teavana said this matcha was imperial quality and strong. The recipe said to use baking matcha but I had to go with what I had..and still used the 1 tsp in the batter. Hmm…wonder why it was a subdued taste? They were still very good and everyone loved the chocolate surprise in the middle. I would say these are a keeper but not sure when I would ever make them again since I wouldn’t have matcha on hand…but such a fun adventure for sure!

That is a great story – it is so nice when stores are nice like that! It’s really a good customer service practice – people are more likely to want to shop at stores with “heart”. More businesses should take note of things like this.

Score on the free matcha – the price is about the same here and I copped it sweet. The very nice lady in the shop was also hinting, thinking that I was about to take up drinking matcha tea, that a bamboo whisk at a cool $50 is well worth the cost. I don’t think so! That said, I enjoyed these financiers and my first foray into the world of baking with matcha.